Banyoles

Estany de Banyoles

Fresh from looking round the delightful town of Besalu, with its wonderful fortified bridge, we decided to walk around the lake just near Banyoles, the Estany de Banyoles. The lake, loosely described as being in a figure-of-eight shape, is fed by underground streams and is 62m deep in places.

There is a continuous footpath all round the lake, so we decided to begin on the side furthest away from the town. The ideal start point was the little romanesque Iglesia Santa Maria at Porqueres.



We headed anti-clockwise from here, initially at some distance from the edge of the lake, although there were spurs from the path towards "miradors" - viewing platforms, more often to be found on high ground (for example on our walk near Begur).

As we approached the town side of the lake, the path continued along the lake side and the first of a number of private bathing or boating huts came into view. These were in a range sizes, colours and styles. This was our favourite.



The path then continued along a stately avenue of trees ...



... past further, grander bathing facilities and other signs of urbanisation and then became quieter .

The views of the lake from this end were easily the most attractive, with variations in the depth of the water readily apparent from the differences in its colour.



On the final leg back to the church the thunderstorm which had been threatening all afternoon finally began, but happily we were right on the edge and did not get too wet.

Rating: three stars. A nice stroll, with some lovely views and the amusing oddity of the bathing huts, but mostly it felt like walking in the park.